BJM Free Press |

“I have a 31-step process. I shampoo seats, do the dashboard with Q-tips, clean the trunk, dress the engine, etc. It takes 3 hours for what I do, and I charge $120. That’s detailed.”

This would be a typical response of someone who does Auto Detailing when asked what they can do for your car and how much they would charge you for it.

The age of upscale carwash is here. As we keep our cars longer (average length is 7.5 years) we take better care of them.

This is why the carwash business is booming with $8 billion in revenue, and so is auto detailing.

EXECTUIVE PARKING

Many auto detail services nest their business in executive parking lots. They get a permit from the city and from the business whose lot they use.

This is convenient for employees who otherwise may not have time to bring their cars to a shop that would take 3 hours to get detailing done.

In a mobile operation such as this, you will need a van or pickup truck and access to running water and preferably AC power.

In some cities, there are companies that convert and customize pickup trucks into mobile detail shops with its own reservoir and portable power generator.

140 MILLION CARS

Although many auto detailers will swear that a bulk of their business comes from car dealers, in reality the car dealer market is small and extremely competitive.

Most car dealers need cars detailed before a used car is offered in an auction or is displayed in the lot.

However, the biggest market of all is still on the road, individual car owners, representing all of 140 million passenger cars plus another 30 million pickup trucks on the road.

This market, with an average age of 7.5 years, is ripe for a detail job at least twice a year.

BUDGET DETAIL

The best way to build up a base in this business is to introduce a mid-priced service that offers extras that carwashes do not offer.

Detail jobs in the range of #30 to #49 will open up a new market that can provide a stream of customers. You can provide a written list of what you do and how you build up your rates from the basic price of $30 to the premium rate $49.

With 5 customers a day, at 1 hour each, you can average $200 a day.

“MAGIC” is the buzz word that usually describes what this business offers.

No - the Party Planning business we’re talking about has very little to do with Goof-Doop The Clown or serving cake and ice cream to 6-year old kids.

CORPORATE SCENE

For a Party Planner, this is where the money is. And if you have the knack for organizing fun things for grown ups, you’re in for a big - $100 Million - surprise. And it’s a business worth celebrating.

BROKER MENTALITY

This is a business you can virtually start with little or no capital. All you need is a great idea and a client who wants to have fun.

The best way to implement this business is to act as the broker for all services entailed in any given event.

You do not prepare the food, you hire a caterer. You do not sing or dance, you hire entertainers. In fact, in some real big parties, you can negotiate with talent agencies to have celebrities attend your party.

For example, you can have named stars “drop by” your party for around $10,000 or better. If your budget cannot afford the real celebs at $10,000 a piece, then you can hire look-alikes for $200 a night. Do not introduce them in the party, just let them roam around and mingle with the guests.

THEME PARTIES

You can also plan an event around a theme, depending on the reason for the party and the number of people attending.

You can build festivals around parties. If the party is an extension of a convention, work around ideas that are conducive to people in that trade or industry.

START-UP

To get started, line up businesses that are involved in parties: florists, videographers, caterers, hotel managers, equipment rental companies, and others.

Set your rates based on the price lists of these related businesses. These tie-in companies will dictate the way you structure your prices.

Once ready, compile a mailing list of potential corporate accounts in your area. If you live in a city with a convention center, it would be ideal to do some networking and get referral business.

Zip Code Phonebook Yellow Pages

A California-based research company has been extensively doing studies on U.S. ZIP (Zone Improvement Program) Codes, they can now predict, with certain percentage of accuracy, what you ate for breakfast based on your zip code.

Zip Code is the smallest, most organized accumulation of information by which we can evaluate the demographic flavor of a given area.

From a marketing standpoint, most retail businesses use zip code along with the Pareto Principle that 80% of your customers reside within the zip codes that connect to your location. In theory, they live no more than 7 miles from where you are.

A CHANGING MARKETPLACE

The phonebook we have grown accustomed to was developed over 30 years ago. Only it has grown in terms of thickness, weight, and aesthetic design.

From a marketing perspective, except for its dominance and near monopoly, it has been rendered useless by a more mobile and more efficient market.

When the Yellow Pages was first introduced, the world “malls”, “strip malls”, “executive centers”, and “postal & mail box centers” were unknown to American consumers.

Today, it is easier for us to dial directory assistance or look online than it is to use the phonebook.

USE OLD PATTERNS

To make it easy for advertisers and consumers to swallow something new, make it look like it’s old. So, use simple patterns and designs borrowed from old phonebooks, including rates charged for your territory.

Establish your advertising rates based on the number of homes and businesses your Zip Code phonebook is going into.

You can cover as many Zip Codes as you want, just make sure you do not pile up a marketplace so large you are practically competing with the phone company. The best rule of thumb is to break the phone company’s general distribution area into 7 phonebooks.

GTE used to have what they called “The Neighborhood Phonebook”. I think the reason it died is that it broke down its neighborhood either very conceptually or too similar to the way all other phonebooks do. Advertisers want solid numbers. Zip Codes are solid. Just ask the postal service.

Temporary Help Agency

The high cost of maintaining a full-time employee contributes to the growth of the temp-help business.

Minimum Start-Up: $10,000
Average Start-Up: $100,000
Revenue; $100,000 - $2.5Mil
Profits; $25,000 - $250,000
One Person Business: Yes

Advancement in computer hardware and software enables companies to staff mean and lean, preferring to hire temps during peak seasons rather than lay off workers during slower times.

On any given day, over 1 million people work on temporary assignments. By 1995, trade statistics estimate that 1.25 million jobs will go by way of “temps”, creating an aggregate annual payroll of about $10 billion.

These figures suggest that the temporary help business is here to stay.

Unlike the temp boom of the late 70s, today’s temp-help has gone beyond clerical help, with 37% of placements involving professionals.

JOB MATCHMAKER

A temporary-help service acts as a matchmaker between businesses seeking temporary help and individuals who want a job.

The temporary agency pays the employee on a weekly basis a set rate, and in turn bills the business/client a predetermined rate, usually 10% to 15% more than was paid the employee.

START-UP HURDLE

If there is a single hurdle that makes starting a temporary-help agency “difficult”, it has to do with your ability to cover the payroll up front.

As a temp agency, the demand for cash flow presents a two-sided problem.

While you are expected to pay your workers on a weekly basis, you are also expected to extend your clients 30 to 60 days credit.

So while you’re waiting to get paid, you need to have enough cash to cover your payroll.

For example, if you place 10 workers at 40 hours each for the week, at a rate of $8 an hour, it would require $3,200 cash for the week. That’s $12,800 in 4 weeks!

To avoid this problem, it is advisable to hire your workers as independent contractors.

You can act as their agent, and collect your commission when they are paid.

Making Money With Giveaways

The guy who thought of giving away free rolls of film every time you have your films developed at his photo center - is a genius!

You know the rest of the story, and so do thousands other photo centers around the world who copy this excellent promotion.

STRETCHING DOLLARS

A budget conscious market is always out looking for a free lunch.  For this reason, you can build a marketing system that self-liquidates its associated cost, distributing gift certificates that offer free this or free that - all the customer has to do is pay a minimal shipping and handling charge.

FREE SOFTWARE

In Las Vegas, I met a poker player who sells software he put together for $29 and higher.

To double the volume and reach other markets, he decided to repackage his software. He gave it a new name, made a new floppy disk label, and offered it at a ridiculous price: FREE

To receive the software, all you have to do is fill out the gift certificate and send it back to him with $8.69.

THEY WENT APE!

He was giving the certificates to schools, businesses, and stores who give away the certificates as their own promotional gifts to their customers. Because the cost to produce and mail this disk is cents, he was making $8 with every certificate that was redeemed for the free software.

$800,000 IN 27 WEEKS

Take a snapshot of this picture: Say, a total of 1 Million certificates were circulated. Let’s say you paid half a penny to print and distribute these million certificates. Your cost is $5,000.

If you generate a 7% conversion, you’ll earn $560,000.00

NUMBERS GAME

If you give other people permission to make copies of and give away your certificates, your cost to circulate 1 Million certificates will go down. But your opportunity to make money remains the same.

1% response = $80,000
2% response = $160,000
3% response = $240,000
5% response = $400,000
10%              =$800,000